Friday, June 29, 2018

The original Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and eventually taken over by a moveable feast of participants when Delores had computer troubles.The aim of the words is to encourage us to write. A story, a poem, whatever comes to mind.

If you are posting an entry on your own blog, please let us know so we can come along and read it.

This week's words are:1. audacious2. angst3. narrative4. provocative5. thoughtless6. courtesyand/or:1. caricature2. undercurrent3. multiple4. dominant5. ultimate6. confidentHere is my story:The undercurrent of angst sweeping the assembly hall was thick enough to
slice. Nudgings and whispers among the students rippled along the seated rows.
The dominant theory was “Hamish has gone too far this time,” followed by
multiple questions, “Has anyone seen Hamish?” “Did Hamish come to school today?”
“Wonder where Hamish is?” “Surely he hasn’t actually gone and done it!”

A sharp rapping on a tabletop indicated the presence of the teachers and
Principal, who had entered unnoticed. The students settled into an uneasy quiet
as two Police officers joined the teaching staff. Principal Lawson addressed
them. “We have a serious problem within our ranks. The constables will address
you, you will do them the courtesy of listening attentively and answering
questions in a polite manner.” He signaled the officers to step forward as he
himself stepped back behind the long table where the rest of the staff were
sitting.

Both men cleared their throats and seemed unsure or unwilling to begin.
Finally, Senior Constable Thomas began. “We won’t bore you with a long
narrative on the rights and wrongs of society, we’re confident all of you know
the basic rules. We’ll stick with the facts. One of you, well known for being
audacious, acting in a provocative manner, and many times being completely thoughtless
concerning the feelings of others, has committed a rather serious crime.”

His partner, Constable Epping, continued. “I’m sure you all know Hamish
Stopford, certainly those of us at the station have come to know him well over
the last few years. Late yesterday evening, Hamish was discovered to be
painting a very large caricature of the scene you see here before you,” he
indicated the tableau of teachers seated at the meeting table on the stage, “with
one major adjustment. All persons depicted are, or were, painted as being
naked, with phone numbers beside each one imploring people to ‘phone for a good
time’.”

“As we speak, Hamish Stopford is being supervised as he scrubs the wall
clean at the Town Hall, after which the ultimate punishment will be handed
down. Hamish will be brought back here tomorrow morning, you will all convene
in this hall again, and he will be formally, publicly, expelled from this establishment.
Counsellors will be assigned to each class in turn, you may speak freely to
them about your feelings on this matter.”

*I had quite a bit of trouble coming up with this, having a minor meltdown and yelling at poor Lola, not a single one of the words suggested anything to me for a long while, so I sent the words to "no-one" and she sent me this piece which I think is very good:

‘Not more stories full of angst,’ I thought to myself as I scrolled through the most recent fanfic entries for my favourite show.

I liked the fluffy stories, with an undercurrent of humour. A narrative of pain was not my cup of tea at all.

Scrolling further, I bookmarked multiple fics that I knew from the author's previous work was well written, and true to the show, not making caricatures of my beloved characters. And if they maybe had some mildly provocative scenes, well I wasn’t complaining.

Closing the browser, I shut off the computer as I noticed the time. If I lingered any longer I’d be late to meet my friends for coffee. I hated being late, it was thoughtless and I’d been raised better than that.

Dashing out the door, I ran a hand through my hair, trying to feel confident about my new haircut. Hacking it all off was a rash decision, and now my brief audacious mood had passed, I wasn’t sure I liked it. Hopefully my friends could reassure me that it looked as good as I thought it would before I made that first cut.

I made it to the coffee shop with minutes to spare and got in line to order an ultimate choc-caramel latte, with an extra espresso shot, to cut through the dominant caramel taste, making the sweetness bearable.

My best friend slid in line beside me, hugging me and telling me how much she loved my new hair.

*so you have two stories for the price of one..."no-one" writes good stuff, I'm sure you'll agree.

Sunday, June 24, 2018

Welcome back to Sunday Selections.Begun way back in the mist of time by Kim of Frog Ponds Rock and now continued by me, with a drastic relaxation of rules.Originally meant for showcasing old photos lost on your files, never seeing the light of day, the meme has morphed into photos of your choice, new or old, good or not-so-good, anything you please, but nothing rude please.If you are participating, please leave me a comment so I can buzz along and have a look.Elephant's Child always participates, and her pictures are always worth seeing.

today we are back in my garden:

remember all the buds on my jades? I was hoping the whole hedge would flower at once and put on a real show

that didn't happen as you can clearly see, perhaps when they are a bit older

the centre of the pigface has been eaten by something, there are dropped 'leaves' on both sides

one of my chooks is in danger of being over run by the hen-and-chickens plant, I'll have to move him in the spring

the pelargonium that was reaching for the sun is now almost completely flattened to the ground

so I've propped up the branches a bit with this large piece of bark about one inch thick,

and scraped a whole lot of surface soil over the buried end and up the branches a bit, maybe the newly buried part will grow roots and stabilise the plant more

the hoya is doing SO MUCH better since I moved it away from the blistering heat of the front porch

I'm hoping this long stem will be the first of many flowering stems

my philodendron, Devil's Ivy, has had a set back, probably got munched on by earwigs

but the elephant's ears are going gangbusters!

it looks like I might get a couple of edible rhubarb stems this year and if you look at the top left corner, that bright yellow/green leaf is a new baby plant growing and over to the right, directly opposite is another baby rhubarb with a bronzed/green leaf. Finally, the plant is multiplying.

Friday, June 22, 2018

The original Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and eventually taken over by a moveable feast of participants when Delores had computer troubles.The aim of the words is to encourage us to write. A story, a poem, whatever comes to mind.

If you are posting an entry on your own blog, please let us know so we can come along and read it.

The
euphoria that accompanied Gloria’s stellar rise to fame was closely followed by
the frivolous lifestyle most new young stars live. Partying, spending, more
partying, more spending.

Gloria
woke up one morning to a revelation. Such a lifestyle could not continue. Her
agent had called several times in the previous week, but she had been too busy
partying or nursing a hangover to take on the jobs he’d been offering. Taking
this road had the potential to end in catastrophe. How many times had she read the
society pages and seen so-and-so who had once been famous but was now an
alcoholic wreck, broke, no longer beautiful and unable to find work.

“That’s
not for me”, she decided. “I refuse to jeopardise my future like this. From
this morning, I have a new perspective. I am resourceful, I will find a way to
move forward. Already the groundswell of my one-time fans, famous themselves
for being as fickle as the winter sun, have moved on to the newest glittery
star-in-the-making.”

Opening
her windows to the sun and pouring a cup of coffee, Gloria sat at her new
kitchen table with her diary and telephoned her mother.
“Mum, how are you? I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch, I’m really, really sorry.
There’s been so much partying going on, I’ve barely had a moment to myself, but
this morning I realised I don’t want to live this way. I’m calling my agent
this morning and tell him I’ll read every script he brings me, I am ready to
work.”

Checking
through the diary, Gloria found a week pencilled in with ‘visit Mum and Dad’
and made sure to ring it in red, to keep it free for the visit. She needed to
re-unite with her family and friends from home. Her lifestyle from now on would
be more mature, she would become the embodiment of elegance, reliability and
punctuality. No more turning up late for the day’s shooting, no more demanding
this or that for her dressing room. From now on, Gloria would style herself on
her idols, those famous women who worked for years in character roles, never minding
they weren’t first on the playbill, just content to build a career in the
business they loved.

“And
Mum? I’m going to buy a house too. Can you make me an appointment with a
financial adviser that you and Dad trust? I don’t want to use anyone attached
to the film industry that might just want to rip off any money I might make.”

She smiled at the picture of Dame Judi Dench in the magazine beside her cup.

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

I'm typing on my backup laptop, not my favourite machine by a country mile. I actually hate this thing, but in the middle of doing something on the Toshiba, the screen went black, the battery was flat. How could this happen? I charged it this morning!Anyway, here I am on the HP, hereafter known as The Hippie, which also has not much power in the battery, but after searching half the drawers in the house, I found the power cord for Hippie and plugged him in, so I can keep doing what I was doing. If only the brain interruptions would stop. There is too much happening lately and I'm not in a good place mentally.Everything that Needs To Happen seems to be happening this week and next week isn't looking any better, with five days booked out of the seven for Things That Need To Be Done. Yesterday, Tuesday, I had a day to do almost nothing, a couple of loads of washing were scheduled, but at least six times people came knocking on my door, so there went several hours, add in taking my old printer to an electronics drop-off point for disposal and Tuesday was over.Today, Wednesday, I had someone coming to install a pet door, so Lola could come and go from the back porch without me having to keep the screen door propped open. The door was successfully installed hours ago, but she seems confused by it and when I go to show her how to push it open, she runs away. She will just have to work it out on her own.I also made a trip to the bank, did a bit of shopping, (I was out of eggs and bread) and now it is after 4pm already.Tomorrow a building inspector is coming around (at 8am!) they're doing a check on building structure and also taking photos inside and out of any changes that have been made since moving in. He will ask if I put up the curtain rods (yes) or were they there when I moved in (no) and other stuff like that. He'll probably photograph the cracks in the walls and ask if they were there when I moved in.Did I install the airconditioner? Well, no. Not personally, I'm not that clever, ha ha. I've heard from others who have already had this inspection that EVERYTHING gets photographed. I'm going to have to ask him to not photograph the family photos on the wall.

Tomorrow is my usual Friday away from home, Monday ditto.

Tuesday next week I have to do a fasting blood test to check how the cholesterol is going, that means a trip to the clinic, two buses, and two buses to get home again. Day over.

Wednesday, two buses again to the clinic to see the doctor and discuss the results of that blood test. Then two buses home again. Day over.

Thursday, a "Home Visit" is scheduled. A housing officer comes around asking questions and taking notes. How are we? Are we coping alright? Do we have any issues about living here? Do we need help with anything? and so on.

There's other stuff going on that I'm unable to talk about, family stuff...

All of this is in my head going round and round and I'm unable to settle to any one particular task.

My calm has vanished and taken my serenity with it. My multitasking gene is dead and buried.

Sunday, June 17, 2018

Welcome back to Sunday Selections.Begun way back in the mist of time by Kim of Frog Ponds Rock and now continued by me, with a drastic relaxation of rules.Originally meant for showcasing old photos lost on your files, never seeing the light of day, the meme has morphed into photos of your choice, new or old, good or not-so-good, anything you please, but nothing rude please.If you are participating, please leave me a comment so I can buzz along and have a look.Elephant's Child always participates, and her pictures are always worth seeing."when there's something new, in your neighbourhood..Who you gonna call.."the girl with the camera of course

there are three of these new gardens along the footpath by my home

they are rain gardens! I knew that as I watched them being constructed

you should be able to read this if you enlarge it

this diagram shows how it all works

the plantings are all still small and hard to see in bright sunlight

the grasses are easier to spot

here you can see the patterns left by water flow from the last rain we had

there are openings along the gutters to allow the water in so the gutters don't flood across the road

we also have new tree plantings along "my" side of the footpath

there are no labels, but the leaves indicate liquid amber and if you know anything about trees you'll remember liquid ambers grow wide and tall, very tall

which could be a future problem, because...

on either side of these new trees are the gums that have been there for years, where the rainbow lorikeets gather to get the nectar from the flowers, and straight up?

overhead power lines, which mean future butchering trimming for the new trees as they reach significant height 😧

Friday, June 15, 2018

The original Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and eventually taken over by a moveable feast of participants when Delores had computer troubles.The aim of the words is to encourage us to write. A story, a poem, whatever comes to mind.

If you are posting an entry on your own blog, please let us know so we can come along and read it.

“Girls!”
Miss Sandringham clapped her hands to get their attention, then asked them all
to please be quiet and pay attention.

“Allow
me to introduce you all to Mrs Trudi Pedersen. She will be conducting your
lessons in Home Management and General Deportment within Society.

During the
next two years you are all expected to learn everything you need to know about
being a married woman once you leave these four walls. For some of you it will
be easy, others will face an uphill battle, but it is hoped you will all gain
at least a modicum of insight as quickly as possible.

I’ve taught you as much
as I can about the cooking and cleaning that will be expected of you and now
Mrs Pedersen will take you through the strategy you will need to be a proper
wife. I would prefer you all to take heed and learn quickly, no one needs to
partake in an attitude adjustment class, those aren’t fun, believe me.

The
committees responsible for this ‘House’, have spent the last five years
searching the earth for suitable, marriageable men for you all, and even now,
those young men are undergoing similar lessons in how to be husbands and good
businessmen. I’ll hand you now to Mrs Pedersen, if you would all please follow
her to the Rose Garden canopy, where you will have the afternoon to introduce
yourselves and get to know each other before lessons begin tomorrow.”

As
one, the girls turned towards Trudi Pedersen and followed as she led them to
the Rose Garden. Once they were all seated, she asked their names and
conversations began. “I’m a little bit scared, Mrs Pedersen, I’ve heard that
being married is like being a slave. Will we have to be locked in our houses
and only allowed out when our husbands say so?” asked Jemmy.

“No,
not at all”, said Trudi. “That did happen for a while in the Dark Days, but
things have changed and wives are allowed to live more normal lives now.”

“I’ve
read about those Dark Days,” said Lucille. “There’s a couple of books in the
Library that tell about the 25th to 27th centuries.”

“I’ve
read those too,” said Kristen. “They’re pretty scary. Every wife was expected
to have at least four babies to help repopulate the earth. I hope that isn’t
still expected now.”

“Let
me reassure you all on that point right now. Babies are expected, but not
immediately, unless you want them right away, and you don’t need to have four,
again, unless you want to. In the long ago past, 19th, 20th
and 21st centuries, many women had large families, as many as six or
eight babies, but that was in unenlightened times and we know better now. If
you want to have four it is allowed, but not expected. We don’t want the same catastrophes that
befell the overpopulated past.”

“So
what will you be teaching us?” asked Megan.

Trudi
said, “We’ll begin with a little sex education, to get that out of the way, you
need to know how the babies come along; then there will be lessons in how to
engage politely with people from all races, rich and poor alike, you will need
to learn forbearance, how to show a little humility when necessary and of
course how to invite guests to your own home as well as how to behave in a
mannerly fashion when invited to others homes. I must add here that I had hoped
there would be more equality now, less of the rich and poor classes, it is the
29th century after all.”

“Please
Mrs Pedersen, what is forbearance?” said Prudence.

“Forbearance
is just a fancy word for patience. Fancy words sound more impressive sometimes
and that is one more thing we will cover in the next two years. You need to be
able to speak them naturally, not as if you had just read them from a
dictionary. They need to become part of you, to show that you have been
properly educated here at Marsh House.”

“Does
that mean we have to sound like the snobs we read about, from the 18th
century I think, going about all uppity and pretentious?” said Alyssa.

“Not
at all,” said Trudi. “The whole point of learning them early is so they come
naturally into your speech so you don’t sound like you are “showing off” but
simply showing knowledge and understanding. Now I know it may be hard for you to
leave here after these final lessons are learned, some of you may go out
strongly with confidence, others may face more upheaval and will need to
develop a little more fortitude. That’s what I’m here for. To see you all
through and safely married.